Yoga Push-Up Guide: Muscles Worked, How-To, Benefits, and Alternatives

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The classic push-up is one of the best exercises you can do for your upper body. Requiring nothing more than the space to lie down, you can pump out push-ups anywhere and anytime, which is why they’re such a favorite of the military, martial artists, prisoners, and home exercisers alike.

Standard push-ups are almost unbeatable, and training to do more push-ups will increase chest, shoulder, and triceps muscle size and endurance.

However, as potent as push-ups are, you can have too much of a good thing. Do enough push-ups, and they can lose some effectiveness and even become boring.

That’s why most push-up aficionados include different push-up variations in their workouts, including decline, diamond, paused, deficit, and explosive push-ups. While each of these push-up exercises uses many of the same muscles, they hit them in a slightly different way.

And now you can add a new exercise to your push-up arsenal – yoga push-ups.

In this article, we reveal why and how to do this fantastic exercise and some of the best variations and alternatives.

Yoga Push-Ups – Muscles Worked

Yoga push-ups are a compound upper-body exercise. This means they work multiple joints and muscles working together. The main muscles involved in yoga push-ups are:

Pectoralis major

Known as the pecs for short, these muscles make up the bulk of your chest. There are three sets of pec fibers, called heads: clavicular (upper), sternal (mid), and coastal/abdominal (lower). The pecs are the agonist or main muscle trained during yoga push-ups. All three pec heads are involved in this exercise.

Deltoids

The deltoids, or delts, are your primary shoulder muscles. Like the pecs, there are three sets of deltoid fibers or heads: anterior (front), medial (middle), and posterior (rear). All three deltoid heads are involved in yoga push-ups, but the anterior head is the most active. The medial and posterior delts work mostly as stabilizers.

Triceps brachii

Better known simply as the triceps, this three-headed muscle is located on the back of your upper arm and is mainly responsible for elbow extension. Because of its relatively small size, the triceps are usually the first muscle to fail during yoga push-ups.

Serratus anterior

Also known as the boxer’s muscle, the serratus anterior is located on the side of your chest and is responsible for keeping your scapulae or shoulder blades flat against your ribs. This muscle is so-called because, when well-developed and you are lean enough to see it, it looks like the blade of a serrated knife.

Trapezius

The unusual shoulder movement during yoga push-ups means your trapezius is more active than with regular push-ups. The trapezius is the large, flat, kite-shaped muscle of your upper back. It comprises three sets of fibers: upper, middle, and lower. All three groups of fibers work during yoga push-ups, but the upper fibers are the most active.

Core

Core is the collective name for the muscles that encircle your waist, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis, and erector spinae. These muscles contract inward to increase intra-abdominal pressure, which helps support your lumbar spine and prevent unwanted movement. Yoga push-ups are more core-centric than regular push-ups.

While yoga push-ups are most definitely an upper-body exercise, your legs are also involved. You’ll need to use your glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings to keep your lower body straight and rigid. However, the load on these muscles is pretty low, so you’ll still need to train your legs separately if you want to make them stronger or more muscular.

How to Do Yoga Push-Ups

Get more from yoga push-ups while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:

1. Squat down and place your hands flat on the floor, roughly shoulder-width apart, and fingers pointing forward. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Walk your feet out and back so your body is straight. Engage your legs to stabilize your lower body.
3. Bend your arms and lower your chest down to within an inch of the floor.
4. Next, push up and back, lifting your hips up toward the ceiling. Gently push your head between your arms to extend your shoulders, open your chest, and stretch your lats.
5. Keep your legs as straight as possible, and press your heels down toward the floor. Your body should now resemble an inverted V.
6. Return to the starting position, bend your arms, and repeat.

Pro Tips:

• Inhale as you lower your chest to the floor, and exhale as you push yourself back and up.
• Experiment with the width of your hands to see what feels the most comfortable.
• Pause at the midpoint of each rep to maximize the stretching and mobilizing effect of this exercise.
• Do yoga push-ups as part of your warm-up or morning routine or during your chest or shoulder workout.
• Use push-up handles to increase your range of motion and take stress off your wrists.

Yoga Push-Up Benefits and Drawbacks

Not sure if yoga push-ups deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide!

Anywhere, anytime

Like most push-up variations, you can do this exercise almost anywhere and anytime. As such, yoga push-ups are perfect for home exercisers and anyone who wants an excuse-free upper body workout.

An effective mobilizer

While yoga push-ups are a great upper-body muscular endurance exercise, they’re also an effective full-body mobilizer. A few reps of yoga push-ups will stretch your shoulders, chest, upper back, lower back, hips, hamstrings, and calves. This means yoga push-ups aren’t just a conditioning exercise but are also suitable for warm-ups.

Increased shoulder engagement

All push-ups involve your deltoids, but yoga push-ups work them more than most. The semi-inverted position at the mid-point of each rep is similar to that of an overhead press or handstand push-up, both of which are great deltoid exercises.

While yoga push-ups are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:

No regressions

There is no obvious way to make yoga push-ups easier. With regular push-ups, you can always bend your legs and rest on your knees to do three-quarter push-ups. Unfortunately, there is no such regression for yoga push-ups.

Potentially more shoulder stress than regular push-ups

Some exercisers struggle with overhead movements and find they cause shoulder discomfort and pain. Yoga push-ups place your arms overhead, so they may cause more shoulder joint stress than other types of push-ups. If yoga push-ups bother your shoulders, you should drop them from your program.

7 Yoga Push-Up Variations and Alternatives

Yoga push-ups are a highly effective upper-body exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do them all the time. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:

1. Feet-elevated yoga push-up

While there is nothing wrong with doing a few yoga push-ups to mobilize and warm up your upper body, some people prefer to do them as a main workout exercise. If you want to overload more than stretch your muscles, feet-elevated yoga push-ups are the answer.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your feet on a knee-high box or step. Brace your core, set your shoulders down and back, and engage your legs.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest to about an inch above the floor.
3. Push back and up and lift your hips into the air so your body resembles an inverted V.
4. Return to the push-up position, bend your arms, and repeat.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A more demanding variation of yoga push-ups.
• A great movement for more experienced exercisers.
• Even better for mobilizing the shoulders and hips.

Tips:

• Make sure your bench/step is stable and won’t tip over.
• Warm up your hamstrings before attempting this exercise.
• Take care not to hyperextend your lower back.

2. Single-leg yoga push-ups

Yoga push-ups provide a welcome core workout. However, the core is not working all that hard. This single-leg variation is much more core-centric and provides an excellent flexion/anti-rotation core workout.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with straight arms, core braced, and shoulders back and down. Lift one foot off the floor.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest to about an inch above the floor.
3. Push back and up and lift your hips into the air so your body resembles an inverted V.
4. Return to the push-up position, bend your arms, and repeat.
5. Switch legs set by set.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• An intense core and upper body exercise.
• More leg and glute engagement than regular yoga push-ups.
• Requires and develops greater coordination and positional awareness.

Tips:

• Wear non-slip shoes or do this exercise barefoot.
• Lift your non-weight-bearing leg higher to engage your glutes more.
• You can also do this exercise with your foot on a step or box, i.e., single-leg foot elevated yoga push-ups.

3. Toe-tap yoga push-ups

Toe-tap yoga push-ups increase shoulder and core engagement while adding a rotational element for greater spinal mobility. If regular yoga push-ups are not challenging enough, and you don’t have a step to put your feet on, this is the next logical progression.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with straight arms, core braced, and shoulders back and down.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest to about an inch above the floor.
3. Push back and up and lift your hips into the air so your body resembles an inverted V.
4. Reach back with one hand and touch your opposite foot.
5. Return to the push-up position and repeat.
6. Alternate sides rep by rep.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• More challenging than regular yoga push-ups.
• Increased core engagement.
• Greater mobility, balance, and coordination demands.

Tips:

• Touch your shin and not your toes if you lack flexibility.
• Try to hinge from your hips rather than round your lower back.
• You can also do this exercise with your feet on a step or box, i.e., feet elevated toe-tap yoga push-ups.

4. Y-reach yoga push-up

This yoga push-up variation works your upper back as well as your chest, shoulders, and triceps. As such, it’s both time-efficient and a great way to prepare your major muscles and joints for upcoming workouts.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with straight arms, core braced, and shoulders back and down.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest to the floor.
3. Lift your hands off the floor and extend your arms forward to form a Y-shape. Point your thumbs up to the ceiling.
4. Bring your hands back in and under your shoulders.
5. Push back and up and lift your hips into the air so your body resembles an inverted V.
6. Return to the push-up position, bend your arms, and repeat.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• An excellent postural exercise.
• Trains your pushing and pulling muscles simultaneously for a time-efficient upper body workout.
• A great way to prepare your upper body for your upcoming workout.

Tips:

• Place a folded exercise mat under your hips for comfort.
• Keep your upper back engaged and shoulders pulled down and back throughout.
• Take care not to lift your head and hyperextend your neck when lying on the floor. Tuck your chin in and look down.

5. Dive bomber push-ups

Dive bomber push-ups are very similar to yoga push-ups. However, they involve some additional movements designed to increase spinal mobility. Dive bomber push-ups are great for loosening up your entire back after a long day sitting at your desk.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position and then lift your hips into the air. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
2. Bend your arms and lower your head toward the floor.
3. Imagining you are ducking under a low bar, lower your chest to the floor, and then, keeping your hips low, extend your arms and push your upper body away from the ground.
4. Reverse the motion, again ducking under that imaginary bar, and repeat.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• An excellent mobilizer for the entire spine.
• A challenging alternative to regular push-ups.
• More lat engagement than with regular push-ups.

Tips:

• Adopt a wide stance to take tension off your hamstrings.
• Use push-up handles for less wrist strain and a bigger range of motion.
• Take care not to hyperextend your spine.

6. Pike push-ups

Yoga push-ups work your chest and deltoids pretty equally. But, if you want to focus more on your shoulders and avoid working your chest, pike push-ups are the exercise for you. They also involve less coordination than yoga push-ups, so they may be a better option for some beginners.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your arms straight and hands roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. Lift your hips and push your butt back so your body resembles an inverted V. Brace your abs.
3. Bend your arms and lower your head to the floor, taking care not to bump it.
4. Extend your arms and repeat.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• An excellent bodyweight deltoid exercise.
• More weight on your arms than conventional push-ups.
• Simpler to learn than yoga push-ups.

Tips:

• Experiment with the width of your hands to see what works best and feels most comfortable.
• Use parallettes, push-up handles, or yoga blocks to increase your range of motion.
• You can also do this exercise with your feet elevated, like this:

7. Mike Tyson push-ups

While boxer Mike Tyson probably didn’t invent this exercise, his use of it means it now bears his name! Yoga push-ups require good hamstring flexibility to perform them correctly. Mike Tyson push-ups work the same muscles but without needing such supple hammies.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your feet pressed against the bottom of a wall to stop them from slipping.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest to the floor.
3. Extend your arms, bend your legs, and push your hips backward so you’re in a semi-crouched potation.
4. Extend your legs and descend into another rep.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A more accessible exercise for people with tight hamstrings.
• A challenging chest and deltoid exercise.
• It was Iron Mike Tyson’s favorite exercise!

Tips:

• Keep your feet pressed against the wall throughout.
• Experiment with the position of your hands to see what’s comfortable and works best.
• Take care to flex from your hips and not round your back as you move into the semi-crouched position.

Yoga Push-Up FAQs

Do you have a question about yoga push-ups or push-up training in general? Don’t worry because we’ve got the answers!

1. How many reps and sets of yoga push-ups should I do?

Because yoga push-ups are a bodyweight exercise, it’s hard to say how many reps you should do. Depending on your body weight and fitness, you might be able to do 10, 30, or even 50 reps, so telling you how many to do would be a mistake.

So, you’ll have to determine how many reps to do. Start your set and continue until you cannot do any more reps in good form. Then, as the weeks pass, do your best to crank out more reps. However, never sacrifice good (and safe) technique for more reps. The trade-off isn’t worth it.

In terms of sets, 3-5 should be enough for most people. If you can do more than this, you probably aren’t pushing your sets close enough to failure, or you are resting too long between efforts.

2. Can I do yoga push-ups every day?

You can do yoga push-ups daily provided you don’t train them too hard each time you work out. For example, you could do 3-4 hard sets close to failure one day and a couple of easy sets for mobility and warming up the next. This will give your muscles the time they need to rest, recover, and adapt to your more intense workouts.

Related: 12 Reasons to Do Push-Ups Every Day

3. Will yoga push-ups build muscle?

Provided you take your sets close to failure, yoga sets could help you build bigger pecs, delts, and triceps. However, this may entail doing high-rep sets, which is not the best use of your training time.

So, if you want to build muscle with yoga push-ups, choose a variation that takes you close to muscular failure in 20 reps or less. This will save you from doing long, inefficient workouts.

4. Are yoga push-ups safe?

Yoga push-ups should be safe for most exercisers. After all, with no barbell to come crashing down on your chest, they’re obviously much less risky than bench presses. That said, the overhead aspect of yoga push-ups means that they put some stress on your shoulders. So, if overhead presses bother your shoulders, yoga push-ups probably will, too.

If you have a history of shoulder pain, introduce yoga push-ups gradually and be prepared to drop them from your workouts if they bother your joints. However, people with healthy shoulders should have no problems with this exercise.

5. Are yoga push-ups better than regular push-ups?

While yoga push-ups differ from regular push-ups, that doesn’t mean they’re better. Yoga push-ups involve more shoulder and core engagement and also mobilize your hips and spine. Regular push-ups do not do this. However, if those benefits don’t interest you, it would be wrong to say that yoga push-ups are better.

In almost every instance, the best exercise is the one that delivers the results you want, is the safest, and that you enjoy. For some, this will be yoga push-ups; for others, regular push-ups will be the best.

Therefore, it’s up to you to determine which is the correct push-up for you.

Yoga Push-Ups – Wrapping Up

With so many types of push-ups to choose from, it can be hard to know which one to do. After all, they’re all excellent, and you can do most of them anywhere and anytime. Regular push-ups are most people’s first choice, but they have their limitations.

Yoga push-ups are an excellent exercise for working your chest, shoulders, and triceps while simultaneously mobilizing your hips and lower back. They’re also a little more core-centric than regular push-ups.

So, whether you’re bored of regular push-ups or just want a new challenge, why not give yoga push-ups a go? Try ‘em; we think you’re going to love ‘em!